Challenge To Community Action

In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.

Analyses the contexts, drivers and outcomes of community action and planning in the global north: from emergent neighbourhood planning in England to the community-based housing movement in New York, and from active citizenship in the Dutch new towns to associative action in Marseille.

Including case studies to illustrate the topics discussed, this title highlights women's role in a community's growth and development, taking into account the considerable changes in society since the first edition.

Historically, women and men have been assigned to different spaces in their communities. Although several decades of feminist social action have made significant progress to the social, economic and political condition of many women, change has been uneven and there remains considerable advancements to be made globally. This valuable third edition considers women’s changing position in the world today, updating some of the perennial challenges that women face and examining new and emerging issues including digital exclusion, sustainable community development and environmental justice. Published in association with the British Association of Social Workers, this book is an invaluable resource for students and practitioners of social work, community work, sociology and social policy.

Nationwide, approximately 1,000 Community Action agencies advocate for the poor and provide diverse but critical services such as (but not limited to) emergency food and shelter, energy bill assistance, weatherization, education, job training, transportation, housing, and health services. In the face of dynamic environments and shifting poverty needs, Community Action agencies are constantly seeking innovative ways to effectively address poverty in their communities while building their internal capacity to ensure sustained impact and outcomes. This book focuses on the major leadership roles and responsibilities of the Community Action leaders, the types of challenges they face, and how they address those challenges, covering questions such as: How do Community Action leaders identify the needs of low-income people and use that knowledge to tailor programs to meet those needs? In what ways are low-income people involved in Community Action agencies (e.g. board or advisory council members, volunteers, employees, advocates)? What are the advantages and disadvantages associated with their participation? How do the leaders and their staff assess and demonstrate the effectiveness of their organizations and programs? What challenges do they encounter in assessing and communicating performance? What approaches are Community Action leaders using to diversify their revenues? What are the advantages and challenges associated with those approaches? How are the leaders developing their staffs and preparing for leadership succession? How do the leaders benefit from an affiliation with state and national associations? Through original and comprehensive research undertaken by the Center for State Policy and Leadership at the University of Illinois Springfield and the Illinois Association of Community Action Agencies (IACAA), this book is designed to inform and enhance leadership in Community Action agencies and other nonprofit or government organizations with similar missions. It is written in a nontechnical manner and includes a chapter on the history and evolution of Community Action agencies for readers who are unfamiliar with Community Action and the War on Poverty. It will be required reading for professionals working at the frontlines of income inequality, as well as university professors and their students in the fields of public administration, nonprofit management, and social work.

With trust in top-down government faltering, community-based groups around the world are displaying an ever-greater appetite to take control of their own lives and neighbourhoods. Government, for its part, is keen to embrace the projects and the planning undertaken at this level, attempting to regularise it and use it as a means of reconnecting to citizens and localising democracy. This unique book analyses the contexts, drivers and outcomes of community action and planning in a selection of case studies in the global north: from emergent neighbourhood planning in England to the community-based housing movement in New York, and from active citizenship in the Dutch new towns to associative action in Marseille. It will be a valuable resource for academic researchers and for postgraduate students on social policy, planning and community development courses.

This book presents a collection of practitioner and community stories that reveal how invasive species management is a community issue that can spark community formation and collective action. It combines the unique first-person narratives of practitioners on the frontline of invasive species management in Australia with three case studies of community action for wild dog management across a range of geographical landscapes. The book offers readers a new understanding of how communities are formed in the context of managing different species, and how fundamental social and political processes can make or break landholders’ ability to manage invasive species. Using narrative analysis of practitioner profiles and community groups, drawing lessons from real-world practices, and employing theories from community development, rural sociology and collective action, this book serves multiple functions: it offers a teaching tool, a valuable research contribution, and a practitioner’s field guide to pursuing effective community development work in connection with natural resource management, wildlife management and environmental governance.

Discover how to better help those in your community in need of services Community Action Research comprehensively explores models for community action research, incorporating quantitative and qualitative research to highlight the advantages to community members as well as the volunteers/paraprofessionals who implement the services. Respected experts present the latest research on the fulfillment of the needs of community members as well as the benefits to the volunteers and paraprofessionals, including psychological empowerment, psychological sense of community, and other facets of personal development. Community Action Research is helpfully organized into two sections. The first section presents a sample of empirical studies that examines whether community action research demonstrated benefits for community members. The second section provides empirical studies that show the positive impact of community action research on the personal development of volunteers and paraprofessionals who provided the research-related services. This detailed text is carefully referenced and uses several tables to enhance understanding of research data. Community Action Research discusses: the Adolescent Diversion Project as an alternative to juvenile court home-based behavior modification programs for autistic children the People Awakening Project and the role paraprofessionals played in Alaska Native sobriety a crime prevention project launched by a residential neighborhood association the Actual Community Empowerment Reading Program which utilized community members as literacy tutors the Community Service Self-Efficacy Scale’s reliability and validity the Hawaiian Studies Program’s weekly participation in community service-learning exercises and more! Community Action Research is insightful reading for psychologists, sociologists, social workers, criminal justice researchers and professionals, community counselors, practitioners and researchers in community prevention and intervention, clinical supervisors, service learning specialists, educators, students, and mental health and human services program administrators, planners, or evaluators.